australia's prime minister clears the way for an early vote using a crackdown on trade unions as a trigger. angie: also coming up, hunted and hacked. a sophisticated gang behind a bangladesh bank heist. positive or negative. christine lagarde says rates below zero may be good for the global economy. premier artsia's show, bringing together more than 200 of the world's leading galleries. all that and more on this monday's edition of "asia edge." david: i am on market watch for you. i will be following the money and what is happening. 2.4% gains on the shanghai composite. it's a quiet, uneventful start to the trading week. you canrly mixed, as see. overall, the benchmark is lower. asian stocks hit a three-month high last week following five

,uccessive weeks of gains leading to very little risk appetite. have a look at u.s. futures. that is playing out across u.s. futures. it is also playing across currencies. dollar-yen, down about .25%. china, the market is usually dancing to its own beat, and that is what we are getting at the moment. we are up for a seventh straight day. well above 3000 for the shanghai composite, on mid-speculation that this lack of margin debt will lead to another explosive rally. the fuel thats fired china's market boom and bust. policymakers are reviving support for margin trading.

the state backed agency that provides funding to brokerages is offering shorter-dated loans and cheaper prices. >> essentially what we have seen at its margin debt is lowest level since the end of 2014 in china, and we know the shanghai composite tracks the margin trading we have seen across china. was tryingacked fund to get this rout off the ground. it has offered shorter loans and lower interest rates. we are seeing these interest as low as 3%. this loosening is expected to reignite interest in the equity market. rishaad: people, of course -- this is what happened last year -- juliette: there was that big composite.e shanghai we saw that the leveraging

increase significantly around june, but then that money started to come out of those margin traits, and that is when we saw that bust coming through. the shanghai composite, closely tracking that. they are hoping there will be more normalization coming into the market if they loosened these rules and allow money coming through. rishaad: ok. what we do see is a repeat of what is going on. let's hope it doesn't happen again. thanks a lot for that. angie: that news is having a significant impact on markets. let's get it back to david inglis who has a closer look at what is happening. rish wereiette and just talking about this. shanghai composite, 12 months, this is the peak before things came crashing down. if you draw a line on the level of margin debt on the mainland

market, that actually looks exactly like this chart. it goes like this. if you create a different y axis, that chart is on the website. it's one of our top stories today. up isason i bring this because we are back above 3000 for the first time since early january. breath, is what i would say. we are seeing significant gains across the chinese market. we are taking off at the moment 2.4% as we near the launch break on the shanghai composite. pretty much a broad-based rally. acrossbreak it down sectors. every single sector is up. we have about 1100 shares on this index. over 1000 are in the green. brokerages, most of them are up, and as a group, 10%. that really says it all.

we could get a debt-driven rally on the shanghai composite, and i think what is happening, if you look at mainland markets, today is proof that what happens on the stock market has nothing to a debt-driven rally on the shanghai composite, and i think what isdo with what is hae economy. very policy-driven, and it's a developing story, what we will get from policymakers and whether we will get that rally. rishaad: we have been asking our guests for their take on china. director oft is chatham house. he says there are plenty of global factors beijing could keep an eye on. bin: at the moment, china is looking for a totally new model. we have relied on it for growth, but at that precise moment, you see a change in attitude. china still relies on an open global economy to get itself moving forward. if you see europe start to close merkel, if youla

see america take a more protectionist line, where does china go? how long is saying all those things are looking up for china. he is concerned about the message being used to address high leverage. >> i think what we are seeing right now is a strong rebound coming from momentum from the commodity sector and also positive development from governmental news, but having said all of that, the mainland chinese market is still very expensive. we are trying to put on leverage again. i don't think that's a good recipe. who is: joshua crabb head of asian equities at mutual global investors believes new risks are coming to the four as china shows signs of stabilization. joshua: risk assets have tended to move. obviously, oil, commodities, emerging markets have been the

risk assets, but arguably at the moment, that is starting to change. we are seeing it around brexit or european banks as the risk pro skis -- proxies. rishaad: that is the word from asia on china. angie: checking in on some stories we are following, our other headlines, the takeover of sharp is at risk of collapse in. as the delay in finalizing the deal drags on, according to reports, they are seeking to pay up to 20% less for the stock than initially agreed to. it has been 25 days since board voted in favor -- since board voted in favor of the takeover. darwin hotels -- starwood hotels says it anticipates to take an offer.

$78 a share in cash for starwood, the clips in marriott's cash and stock offer worth $59 a share. starwood has given marriott a deadline of march 28 to renegotiate its agreement, which would create the world's biggest hotel operator. hasilian miner valle confirmed the death of its former ceo roger nelly in a plane crash in sao paulo. the 56-year-old's wife, son, and daughter also died when their plane came down minutes after takeoff. president dilma rousseff played -- paid tribute to agnelli who led vale for over a decade. the first chinese company has signed up as a major fee for partner. it's also the first sponsor of the football body since the corruption scandal.

last year, china's president xi jinping made football a national priority. since then, we have seen some wealthy investors from china put money behind the sport. dalian wanda's chairman and man,er is china's richest and he has been aggressively investing in football. he took a 20% mistake in madrid last year. last year, he bought a sports marketing company. this company does millions of dollars of business with fee for -- fifa, and it's run by the nephew of sepp blatter. been doneligence has to make sure there is no conflict of interest. fifa's deal with fee for -- a runs through 2030. the company has the highest sponsorship rights level and includes the next four world

cups. the reason behind it was long-term and bishop. -- long-term ambition. dalian wanda, in the ranks of big sponsors like adidas, coca-cola, visa. is it a value for money? is it a good use of money? roz: he says it's very worthwhile, the sponsorship deal. he said other chinese companies could sign-up to become top fifa sponsors this year. it gives fifa's coffers a big boost. so, they will welcome the money, and the fifa president said other deals were "on the horizon." a couple months ago, the german publication reported that an agreement could be signed worth "the high two-digit million

sum." rishaad: rosalind chin there. more on that story and the rest of the day's news on bloomberg.com. you can watch some of the interviews you may have missed on bloomberg today. angie: coming up later this hour, find out why one bank strategist says the u.s. is reaping what the fed has sown when it comes to won and dollar volatility. coming up after this break, asia's biggest art fair is set to start this week. whether that could be affected by china's slowdown. you are watching "asia edge." stay with us. ♪

kong, 2:1313 in hong in sydney. these are the stories making headlines. arrived ina has havana for three-day visit, becoming the first sitting u.s.

president to visit cuba since calvin coolidge in 1908. corporate executives and prominent cuban-americans joined him. has removed the banking and travel restrictions, but only congress can lift a trade embargo that has been in place since 1962. russian testator say the flight recorders recovered after saturday's crash or severely damaged. the62 people on board boeing 737 were killed when the ande burst into flames russia's south. the airlines ceo says conditions for landing were appropriate. brazil is bracing for another week of political chaos. they knew paul suggests two thirds of voters want president, recep impeached. it follows the swearing in of her predecessor silva as her

chief of staff. critics say that is meant to protect him from a corruption inquiry. and congressional committee that will decide to recommend the president's impeachment will meet for the first time monday. news.s bloomberg rishaad: it has been touted as asia's premier art show. angie: art basil hong kong will feature over 200 of the world's leading galleries, and joining us to talk about the show's evolution and what visitors can look for is at alain read. she is director of art basil. it's one of the most exciting events in hong kong. people from around the world, flying over to get access to this really growing, influential group of asian artists, eastern artists. >> it's really the larger show

of its kind in asia. we are very proud of it as the art,ng platform for asian as well as to showcase art from the rest of the world. this year, we have 239 calories. we are expecting vip's from over 70 countries. it's an exciting moment for all of us. more importantly, i'm truly excited about the content. we have great work coming from asia, from around the rest of the world, both historical and contemporary. we've got wonderful artists like stella, and from asia, david diao. we've got wonderful japanese artists. please don't miss it, and if you can, do come and see it. rishaad: it's the fourth year of it, isn't it? it grows every year. how does it evolve?

what are you seeing in terms of trends? >> i think the size will always remember the same. i think the show has grown from strength. are only four years old. we are still a baby in so many ways. the first three years was really about outreach, awareness about the show, and the one thing we are grateful about is the support we have from asia. this year, for us, in terms of the development of the show, we are interested in art in this part of the world. this is a wonderful platform to show it off. angie: it's not just about the simple art of buying and selling art. asreally is about curating, much as the artist as the buyer themselves. >> we have always seen this as a

hub, a platform where people come together. it's not just about the buying and selling. this year, we are expecting 110 million representatives and patrons, which is truly unprecedented. we are truly excited about that. this is a time for meetings, as well. it's a wonderful time to other,, get to know each hold meetings, and curators come in. rishaad: that's half of it, isn't it? >> curators can come in and do research. for collectors, there is always something new, something to learn. that's the whole point of this show. about the unknown. it's about getting to know a new artist, perhaps someone you know but you have overlooked. it's all about introductions and re-introductions. rishaad: what about chinese visitors? are you seeing any tailing off

of those given the fact they might not have as much money to be extravagant with? >> no, we are hopeful. we've got a strong group of chinese collectors coming to visit us. every year, we have always had them. angie: what did they buy? do they buy western art or eastern art? are they look lean more on the international -- >> international. i think the appetite has grown. developed. has it's difficult to pinpoint the trends. for them, it's about interests, the things they are interested in, particular artists. it's common to see chinese collectors buying art from l.a. it's quite global and international. more: our chinese artists interested in getting into the collections of western collectors? that was really a concern, i felt, or the trend was, over the past couple years. they seemed to be wanting to stay in this region. >> it's a little bit of both. for every artist, it's important

to have their works placed all around the world. i think that is the true mark of someone's success. naturally from asia, it would be wonderful to have your work in collections in the west, whether it's a museum or private collection. also, it's the reverse. for western artists, now that asian collectors are such a force to be reckoned with, i think it's important to have their work in asian museums, in private collections. rishaad: art basel in basel, itself. how much cross-fertilization is there? >> we like to think that every show is regional and different, unique to the context it inhabits, but i think generally speaking, there will always be a group of collectors who will do all three shows. for example in hong kong, the show -- the key focus is on asia. of my galleries are from the

asia-pacific region. in miami, the focus is more on the americas. in basel, it's naturally europe. we like that each show has its own character, that at the same time, you have these galleries that will be present in all three shows. angie: name one thing that is going to excite audiences most. >> we've got a lot this year. we are excited about our expanded film program. we are featuring five feature-length films, which will be open to the prod -- the public. we also have the icc tower featuring international artists. rishaad: let's hope the weather will hold up so you can see it. [laughter] >> i'm hoping we will be able to have a great view of the tower. angie: regardless, it's going to be an exceptional show at art basel. thank you for joining us. good luck. rishaad: coming up, stalked and stunned. the latest investigation into

the $100 million beijing bank heist. angie: when "asia edge" returns. ♪

angie: you are watching "asia edge." hackers install more than $100 million from the bangladesh central-bank and stopped its computer systems for weeks before gaining access. an interim investigation shows a sophisticated group of hackers. let's go to our southeast asia correspondent haslinda amin who has been taking a look at the story. what lengths to the hackers go to? they went all the way. the hackers were organized, sophisticated. they went to great lengths to pull off what is believed to be the biggest money laundering case in the philippines. the hackers, according to a report, sneaked through the systems at the bangladesh central-bank for two weeks.

the installed software that allowed reentry. they also used malware to make payments look legit. say the hackers made sure they cover their tracks all the way, no trace whatsoever. logs were deleted. it's a global money trail from new york to sri lanka and the philippines, $81 million sent to the philippines, another $20 million sent to sri lanka. the original plan was to steal $1 billion. it's a whodunnit in the 21st century. the fed, now part of the investigation. rishaad: how culpable -- angie: how culpable is the philippines? is it at risk of being blacklisted here? haslinda: for one thing, the incident sheds light on the murky banking system in the philippines. how did the money get transferred to the philippines,

which is run by local casinos through a local money changer? there will likely be wider consequences for the financial sector. on top of that, one senator sounded a note of caution. he said the philippines may get blacklisted as a money-laundering haven, and the country's credit rating may be at risk, as well. it was raised to investment grade back in 2013. that may not stick if the government isn't able to show it is taking action. it's a complicated money trail. there is speculation the money has left the philippines. there seem to be too many loopholes in the system. angie: has, thanks so much for that. rishaad: getting you to what is going on with the trading day, let's have a look at sydney. we've got commodity-related currencies down a little bit, and that is helping to the press some of those resource -- depress some of those resource stocks. at the moment, we do see a little bit of weakness.

asia-pacific equities, on the way down. chinese shares have been bucking the trend. the hang seng, also getting a little bit of a lift, up by 1/5 of 1%. ♪

angie: you are watching "asia edge." chinese stocks are headed for a two-month high after policymakers loosen controls on margin lending. hit overhai composite 3000. margin loans are blamed for fueling china's stock boom and bust last year. the wider asian benchmark has slipped, along with crude oil. dalian wanda will become the first major new fifa sponsor following the corruption scandal. the chinese conglomerate will put hundreds of millions of dollars into world soccer, the first to do so since the sepp blatter was ousted.

present xi jinping made it a national priority. investigators say the hackers responsible for the $100 million bangladesh heist stopped the banks computer systems for two weeks before hand. an interim report by fireeye does not name suspects but says the thieves locked in for short periods and installed malware on servers. those are the headlines from bloomberg news powered by over 2400 journalists and 150 bureaus around the world. let's get the latest on the markets right now with david inglis. david: we are just entering the lunch break for markets in shanghai, 30 minutes left in hong kong. have a look at the morning session in hong kong. the big news was looser restrictions on margin lending. we will be restarting some of

that debt buildup. 3006, so we are certainly off the highs of the day. looks show you how that over 12 months. that is, of course, the boom and bust. that's about a 10% to 12% gain from the bottom that we saw last year. we are still down roughly over 15% year to date. gains today are fairly broad-based, but if you did have to pick the biggest winners, the brokerages. up 8.5%,ok at this, 9%. though,er picture little risk appetite come apart from this and the philippines. we hit five-month highs into friday. there is little appetite to add to any risk exposure at the moment. we are going for six straight weeks of gains. japan, which should be coming out of its plunge, is shut today to welcome the first day of spring.

that being said, not very eventful. it is playing out when you look at dollar-yen. not a lot of risk appetite. let's hope things to improve in the afternoon session. that is what is happening. chinese policymakers have warned of risky levels of debt days after the national people's congress gave priority to achieving 6.5% annual growth. the comments from the pboc governor and vice premier suggest it is going to be a difficult balancing act for beijing. let's have a look at the challenges. haidi: the challenges are many. the beijing policymakers have got this slowing economy with a debt overhang. they are trying to not overheat in terms of worsening the debt scenario. i guess it's heartening that policymakers are addressing this credit elephant that has been in the room.

this is one of the systemic macro risks many economists have flagged as being the key risk to china's economy. in terms of a hard landing, we had moody's essentially sounding a warning tone, saying, if things don't improve, china's credit rating could be at risk. ratios the debt to gdp for china. that was last year. that came up from 166% eight years ago, and that was in the aftermath of the huge stimulus binge they went on in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. they are trying not do that this time around, but in particular, its corporate debt that is raising the most red flags. a lot of these companies, more and more of them are taking on new loans to be able to roll over their debt. look at how much

financing has surged this year, this is one of those alarm bell moments. policymakers are turning the taps on lending at a time when they should be deleveraging. having said that, a lot of things have settled down. stability has returned to the yuan. a lot of the confidence crisis is more of a mindset than anything else, and he spoke about that over the weekend. let's see what he had to say. overall, i think the view on china's reform going forward, china's economic future, and also the renminbi exchange rate -- if we can go back to normal, those discussions will be soon gone, and we have seen evidence of that argument dissipate in. haidi: people need to stop worrying about china so much, but arguably, there are serious systemic issues in terms of how

banks and other lenders are going to be able to get bad loans off their balance sheet. rishaad: thank you indeed for that. angie: china has a new problem. who is going to pay the bills? a lot of unpaid bills. juliette has the latest. juliette: as of china doesn't have enough problems, another 500 $90 billion worth -- this is the story on bloomberg. it is currently the fifth story down here. what we are seeing is this waiting game for the nation's public firm. 1998.hart goes back to in 1999, you can see gdp growth was at a nine-year low, and it took companies about three months to get payment from their customers back. in the early 2000's when gdp

growth was at a 15-year high, the economy was doing a lot better. now back here in the latest filing, we are seeing gdp growth at a 25-year low. 83 days on average for a typical chinese firm to collect cash from these completed sales. that is almost twice as long as emerging market peers, and we are seeing these delays spread across every single industry, from industrial to attack and consumer sec -- to tech and consumer sectors. that is more than the annual economic output of taiwan put together. i also want to shut you this graph. you can see this white line is the return on common equity from the company' that are listed on the shanghai composit, as we

see these accounts receivable start to common. -- to come in. this is having a massive knock on effect into the entire economy. there is less a quiddity -- liqu idity. it means a lot of those profits and sales numbers that are being reported to us could be out of whack and could be weaker than the numbers these companies are reporting, because they don't have cash they are putting into their profit numbers. the chief china economist and bnp paribas, he's also a former world bank official, he says he sees two more years of hard times for these chinese companies. we could see this white start to fall even further. line start to fall even further. rishaad: let's check on some of the other stories we are following. the bank of tianjin has raised nearly $950 million after its

hong kong ipo. the bank is set to price near range.tom of a marketed seven cornerstone investors, including the china government-owned state building arporation, agreed to buy $560 million stock share. it will start trading on march 30. at a time when china is tightening its control over the internet, mark zuckerberg met with china's propaganda chief. the facebook chief met him over the weekend. he is a member of china's top decision-making body. in that meeting, he said he hoped facebook at work with chinese internet companies to promote the development of the web. facebook and other foreign social media services like twitter are banned in china. imf managing director christine lagarde has warned vietnam it is honorable to external shock waves without reform. it is aiming to strengthen its

banking sector. notrde said vietnam is strong enough to sustain weakening commodity prices without reforms. the imf chief visited vietnam to visit with the country's leaders, praising what she says is now one of the worlds most open economies. christine: if you have a strong the chineseith growth model come if you have commodity prices that will eventually fall lower and for longer, then it would expose the vietnamese economy, and that would not be good for the vietnamese population. angie: australian prime minister malcolm turnbull has set the scene for an early election, which would see both houses of parliament dissolved for the first time in 30 years. for more, let's get to paul allen in sydney. a bold move from the prime minister. talk us through his plan. reallyalcolm turnbull,

appearing to clear the decks. he has brought the budget forward a week early to may 3 and is recalling the senate on april 18. they are going to be debating to bills, one having to do with the transparency of unions, and the other to do with the construction industry watchdog. should either of them fail, and it is likely both would, under australia's constitution, that would give the prime minister the ability to ask for both houses to be dissolved and would mean an early election. in a press conference, the prime minister said there -- that the time for playing games is over. lows and obstruction by labor and the greens on this legislation must end. the senate will have an additional three sitting weeks to deal with the abcc and to deal with organization registration, plenty of time to pass these important laws. if the senate fails to pass

these laws, i will advise the governor general to dissolve both houses of parliament and issue writs for an election. paul: if an early election were to be held, it would be on the second of july. angie: why is the prime minister doing this now? an election isn't due until the end of the year, right? he would be happy to see these pieces of legislation pass, but it's more about the politics. malcolm turnbull and his predecessor tony abbott were burdened with a senate that is uncooperative. tony abbott called them "pharrell -- "feral." there are niche interests from minor parties that got to their positions on miniscule proportions of the vote. every time the government wants to get legislation through, these are the sorts of people they need to deal with. last week's senate voting

reforms were finally pushed through the senate, which set up what we saw today. if an election were held, if the senate obstructs this, the scene is set to get rid of the senate. it gives malcolm turnbull a chance to capitalize on the fading popularity that is therefore his government. maneuvering.cal thanks, paul allen. coming up, currency volatility. our next guest says the u.s. is reaping what the fed has sown when it comes to the dollar and women be. more on that in a couple of minutes. ♪

>> it's 11:44 in singapore, 10:44 in jakarta. these are the stories making headlines around the world. arkish authorities called off soccer match in istanbul two hours before kickoff, citing an unspecified threat. media reports said there was a

bomb threat at the stadium. officials said the match would be played at a later date. the so-called islamic state carried out a suicide bombing in istanbul saturday that killed four people. at least 13 people have been killed and more than 30 injured in a bus crash in northeast spain. the bus was carrying university exchange students back from spain's largest fireworks festival. it crashed into an oncoming car on the opposite side of the highway. officials said the bus was the but the the crash, driver past alcohol and drug tests. iraq has shipped out the first experts of natural gas in its history. it's been a long time coming. exporting gas in the 1970's. that was delayed by the iran-iraq war. iraq is struggling to support a

cash i construct economy. -- cached-strapped economy. this is bloomberg news. i am haslinda amin. rishaad: joining me and angie, we've got patrick. on the one hand, the chinese authorities have been going on about how debt is something, which is a real issue facing the country, and at the next minute, they are increasing margin lending. atrick: markets are looking for better communication out of china. we thought we were getting some of that through the npc, but now it doesn't look like good policymaking. angie: does it mean that maybe they are more confident about the stability of the equity markets to be able to sustain the margin lending? patrick: i think there could be

one thing that comes out of it. i think the market does look more confident in what is happening in china in regards of, yes, we know the economy is slowing, but it's not collapse ing. let's see how it plays out. we see property prices going through the roof. there seems to be this speculative force in play. juliette: what they want to do is get this money back into the equity markets, because we know that tracks so closely how much money is inside a margin trading. is it too soon? the rout we saw in july is fresh in everyone's mind. patrick: we had two things in the last few years. we had the run up in the housing market, which was a bubble. we seem to have gotten over that. then we had the equity market, which rose to quickly and inflated quickly. i think there is reason to be a little bit bewildered. juliette: essentially, nothing has changed. the makeup of the market is still so heavily retail.

it's not any more sophisticated than where we were a year ago. if anything, conditions have worsened. patrick: that's quite right. you are quite right that there is no real correlation between what happened and equity markets and what happened overall with economic activity. global equity markets were generally have been supported by monetary policy. is that any different from being supported by leverage? that is a question for global markets. ultimately, what do we expect to see from china despite this bizarre communication? patrick: i think it's managing to maintain growth at this same rate, 6%, 6.5%. they have eased fiscal policy, not by as much as the market wanted, but they had done so. is it just pushing the day of reckoning further into the

future? i think the global of work -- global economy would be happy with pushing it further in the future. rishaad: what is their currency policy? [laughter] patrick: good question. the current policy is basically stable. we are looking for a modest appreciation. have seen a 3% trade-weighted appreciation -- depreciation. need to look at what is happening on the trade-weighted measure, and that has been depreciating. juliette: what is the knock on effect to emerging market economies? we heard christine lagarde say they will have to push the reforms or they will face shock waves. china is going out in front. what is going to be this knock on effect? patrick: lots of opinion about what should be done. i think reform is important. monetary policy, both in emerging markets and developing markets -- now we need to look at more structural reforms, supply-side reforms.

>> how long do you see this run-up for, in particular, asian currencies on the back of the dollar weakness? patrick: i don't think it has a lot further to run. we know emerging markets in asia are susceptible to what happens in china and developed markets. we heard from the fed last week that they are not confident on growth. i think it's difficult to see that extend further from here. rishaad: where does this leave what you have to tell your clients? when we look at currencies come it seems may be the dollar bear-ish run is over with. muddy waters when it comes to why. what gives? patrick: it's a tough one. i think there are some cross plays. some of the correlations we did see have broken down.

we expect to see the chinese currency depreciate further on a trade-weighted basis. angie: this morning, we talked robinhatham house's niblett, basically saying, for years, china was the economic engine of the world, for europe, for the u.s., and now as it slows down, who is going to take over that spot? is it going to be the u.s.? patrick: we had expected the u.s. to do better. it's fair to look and say, since 2008, we haven't had any aggregate global demand. we saw china bring forward its infrastructure spending, which boosted commodity producers. we saw commodity producers put more in the investment cycle that wasn't going to extend auto china. we saw equity markets run up under the auspices of qe. i took we need to look wider. those who can ease need to ease. china is one of those.

china continues to be an engine of growth for the region, perhaps not for the world. angie: it's got to be a collective effort, it sounds like. bennett, always good to see you, joining us in hong kong. coming up on "asia edge" -- rishaad: we are going to find out why apple could be facing a potential crisis when it comes to the iphone. angie: back in two. ♪

a look ate now for what we will be watching for you in asia this week. nike releases third-quarter earnings on tuesday, and we will be watching to see how the company is faring in china. at second quarter sales defy the slowdown, jumping 24% to $938 million, while future orders increased 34%. china is hosting the annual bow forum. premier league to chang -- li

delivering abe speech. stephen engle will be there with live updates and big guests. on thursday, we have singapore releasing its budget. the finance minister says the government will be particularly prudent with this year's finances. singapore's economy grew 2% last year. that is at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis. expects growth of 1% to 3% next year. the myanmar stock exchange will finally open for business. ysx officially opened in december, but until now, there has been nothing to trade. five more companies are lining up to join smi on the board. one of the other big events this week is apple's new iphone launch, and the company will be hoping it's a big one. analysts are predicting a first

sales drop since the smartphone was released. here's more on what could be a looming crisis for the company. apple has a bit of a crisis, and it's hoping a new kind of iphone will help fix it. apple sold more than $155 billion worth of iphones in the past year. when steve jobs first showed the iphone to the world five years ago -- nine years ago, apple's stock was just $12. $133, grew to a high of mostly because of the iphone's wild success since then, but the iphone empire is in trouble. sales have flipped from exploding to an expected decline this year for the first time ever, and fear of that decline has caused apple's stock to tumble to $93 and change. what is wrong? number one, apple is running out of new people to buy iphones now

that half the worlds population uses a smart phone. number two, phone sales have been hurt by economic troubles in countries like china, russia, and brazil. apple is looking for new ways to get more iphones in people's hands, including in places like india where more than one billion people are just starting to catch the smartphone wave. getting new iphones into our pockets is apples key to selling us more apps, apple watches, and potentially future products like cars. tim cook doesn't want people to think of apple as just the iphone company, but for now, it is. the iphone generates two thirds of apple's revenue. if the iphone can't grow again, the panic about apple won't end anytime soon. --haad: that iphone launch it's a strange time of year it's happening. normally, we get it in the autumn. they were thinking that maybe at a cheaper price, they are going to target china

despite the slowdown. maybe they still want cheaper iphones. you are going to be doing a look at all of our top stories in a couple minutes. angie:

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